1. Technical Field
The technical field relates to a special effects apparatus that gives special effects to an image, and, more particularly to a 3D image special effects apparatus that gives special effects to a 3D image.
2. Related Art
In recent years, attention is paid to techniques relating to 3D images. 3D images are images that can be viewed stereoscopically, and for example, stereo images that are generated based on an image for the left eye and an image for the right eye captured synchronously (hereinafter, also referred to as “left-eye image” and “right-eye images”). Normally, the left-eye image and the right-eye image include disparity corresponding to the human's binocular disparity.
Actually, various apparatuses for displaying the 3D imagery and various methods for showing the 3D imagery to a viewer have already been proposed. They are based on the basic principle such that a viewer can be allowed to recognize a sense of depth of imagery using the disparity in the left-eye and right-eye images. Therefore, it is a very important factor for the quality of the 3D image that a sense of depth intended by image creators should be properly reflected in the disparity in the left-eye and right-eye images. Such a quality determining factor is not present in the conventional 2D image.
In order to encourage full-scale utilization of contents using the 3D image, not only development of image pick-up apparatuses, reproducing apparatuses and display devices but also development of editing apparatuses suitable for editing a 3D image is important. It is desired that the editing apparatuses not only simply connect cut scenes but create various special effects (visual effects) and the like efficiently in accordance with the intentions of 3D image creators. In addition, due to the above-described reason, it is desired that the 3D image editing apparatuses should maintain a stereoscopic effect (a sense of depth) of an original 3D image accurately in an edited 3Dimage. In order for the stereoscopic effect to be retained, it is important to maintain the disparity in the left-eye and right-eye images of the original 3D images after editing.
JP 2002-271816A discloses a 3D image special effects apparatus that performs mosaic processing (pixelization) as special effects to a 3D image. When the 3D image special effects apparatus of JP 2002-271816A receives an input about a region (specified region) to be subjected to the mosaic processing in a left-eye image or a right-eye image of an original 3D image, the apparatus detects a region (detected region) of the right-eye image or the left-eye image of the original 3D image to be subjected to the mosaic processing based on an image on a central part of the specified region, and executes the mosaic processing on the specified region and the detected region.